Ceci Bastida: Latin Indie in ‘The Age of Violence’
Photo courtesy of Ceci Bastida
Bastida wrote 'La edad de la violencia' while she was pregnant and began questioning the world she was going to bring her child into. “I think I got really obsessed with what was happening around the world and I started thinking that we’re living in the most violent era ever – not that that’s necessarily true but I just couldn’t help feeling that way,” she tells Alarcón.
In 'La edad de la violencia', her upbeat, catchy tunes balance the often dire topics she covers in her songs. Take the song “Una vez más” (“One more time”), where she sings, “if you dare insult me once more, you’ll see how with this I’m going to get revenge.” It’s a song that could be interpreted in different ways, even as a break-up song. But it’s actually about gun violence; more specifically, school shootings.
If you watch the music video for “Una vez más”, her intentions for the song become more obvious:
oembed://https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DLB95vEH_tNA
Bastida says she doesn't want to be "preachy" with her music. “It’s more about talking about these issues but realizing that there is also a lot of beauty and that we need to also focus on that”, she says.
In fact, the last song on her album is one hundred percent positive. It’s a song she wrote for her daughter. It’s called “Ven (Beautiful)”, and it features her friend Julieta Venegas. “I wanted to end on a positive note, and to me there’s nothing more beautiful than [my daughter].”
Visiter her website cecibastidamusic.com to hear more.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.